Andrew Joyce at Into the Book (known to many of you for previous reviews and one splendid giveaway) has finished the last book in the Saga and has this to say:
I never cry when reading books, but this one made it happen. I also threw this book, and I never throw books.
Thanks, Mr. Joyce. That's very high praise indeed. Readers, check out the rest of this (nonspoilery!) review here.
From the studio of Shining Isle Productions comes this exciting news: Chris and the animation team are getting production underway! Huzzah!
Dr. Matt Hunter, a humanities teacher at a classical school, recently reviewed The Wingfeather Saga. In his review, he talks about the intersection between Wingfeather and the "classics"—especially the classics' "great universal human themes"—and then says:
This is what I was least prepared for: the heart-rending, the occasional choking back of tears for the beauty and truth conveyed in these stories, the moments when I had to risk the catch in my throat and keep reading because I desperately want my children to know the truths these stories tell.
Thank you, Dr. Hunter. Read the rest of his (spoiler-free) review here.
Greetings, Wingfeather friends!I've been on the road quite a bit lately, and with spring in full swing at the Warren there's been no shortage of things to do. One of the residual benefits of my newly built Chapter House is that my computer stays out there in the evenings, mainly because I'm too lazy to put my flip-flops on and go get it after dinner. That means I'm not as distracted by the siren call of the laptop in the evenings when I ought to be hanging with the family--but it also means that posts on all forms of social media are a bit more sporadic.The good news is, we've made about ten jars of strawberry jam, and the bees are going bonkers in their four hives. The kale and romaine lettuce are healthy, the pumpkins and watermelon I started from seeds are growing, I spread the composted chicken poop on the garden yesterday and planted my tomato seedlings, and we have lots of grapes, blueberries, peaches, and two nectarines growing steadily.The bad news is the thwaps. In our world we call them "squirrels." They eat Moondog's food. The eat his plastic food bin. They eat my strawberries. They eat my apples and peaches. They are evil and they must be stopped. I'll spare you the gory details, but this morning I stopped one cold. If you're a thwap-squirrel and you're reading this blog, spread the word that the Warren is no place for you.As for the Wingfeather Saga, I'm happy to report that there are things happening. Today I'm sending emails to all the authors and artists involved in the Wingfeather Tales book in order to begin the process of nailing down their ideas for stories. Chris Wall has been working hard in the background making contact with visual artists and animators. We're finalizing the budget so we can know exactly how much we have to spend on the actual film vs. the many awesome Kickstarter rewards we aim to create. I'm also beginning the process of creating a "Wingfeather Manifesto," for lack of a better name, which basically means creating a document that articulates the main story beats for each of the four books--the parts that absolutely must not change when we adapt the books to a visual medium. As you know, telling a story visually is very different from a book, and there are lots of fun opportunities to go deeper into the Wingfeather world with this film series. However, with a team of people there are way more opportunities for the story to go off the rails. Hopefully this document will be something we can point to that will keep everybody on the same page. Whew! As you can see, we have our work cut out for us, so I'd better get back to it.Big thanks to Librarian Sidler for her great work keeping things going here! She is mysterious, but ever so helpful.AP
I don't know about you, but one of the Kickstarter stretch rewards I am most excited about is the Florid Sword/Shadowblade comic book. There's no way that can be anything but awesome. The artist, Jay Myers, is excited about it, too. Even before the Kickstarter was over, he was playing around with character sketches. If you follow him on Instagram, you can catch some of that play.
One cool thing that Mr. Myers has been doing is an illustration exercise called The 15 Minute Art Challenge, where he sets a timer for 15 minutes and then cranks out a drawing. BAM. That doesn't leave time for a ton of fine detail and shading and such, but he says he's found it to be a great way to improve his craft. He posts a lot of these pieces on Instagram (and his other sites). Some of what you'll find is inspired by The Hobbit and Bigfoot, but because he's gearing up to make us a comic book, there's a lot of Wingfeather there, too. The Wingfeather pieces are all still experimental—he hasn't settled on a style yet—but it's really fun to keep up with him as he plays. And, if you're also an artist (or you'd like to be), he's invited his followers to do their own 15 Minute Art Challenges and then tag them (#15minartchallenge) so participants can keep up with each other. (One of these participants is Aedan Peterson, who—by the way—is phenomenal.)As Andrew says, "Art begets community, and community nurtures art." That's visibly true in the way so many artists (writers, illustrators, and more, Mr. Jay Myers included) have come alongside Andrew to bring Wingfeather to life. It's fun to watch the process happen. And it's also fun to see what happens when one of these artists invites others into his process. Are you up for a 15 Minute Art Challenge?Either way, go check out Mr. Jay's drawings. :-)
"So I bet you’re wondering what’s next with the Wingfeather Saga.
"ME TOO."—AP
Andrew sends out an email newsletter at the end of each month, and April's (which just arrove in inboxes this morning) included a lengthy note about all the doings at the Warren and in Aerwiar. If you're not signed up for these emails yet, hie thee to this link, where you can read all about his crazy spring, his bees, his recent and upcoming tours, and all the fun and insane work he and Chris get to wrangle. There's even a handy Subscribe button right at the top. :-)
Sometimes readers ask questions about the scary themes in The Wingfeather Saga. The Black Carriage, something dreadful and sad and frightening, shows up right away in chapter 1, and many scary things happen throughout the series after that. One of the questions asked during the Kickstarter was about how these frightening scenes will be depicted on screen. Will they be too scary for younger viewers? When a question (about casting toothy cows!) came up during the countdown party, here's what Andrew said:"I'm not excited about scaring your children, but there was something that was important to me with the Wingfeather Saga books. In order for the light in the stories to be shown as being powerful, the darkness needed to not be a straw man. It needed to not be a weak darkness; it had to be something that was actually formidable. That meant, from early on in the stories—the opening scene where Janner's laying in bed and he can hear the sound of the Black Carriage—that was my attempt at telling the parents that were sitting down to read this story, 'This is not Dr. Seuss. This is going to be a story that's going to deal with some scary, scary stuff.' But the point is, one of the things that's important to me, that makes this series different from the other things made for TV, that's going to give it its weight, is that the world needs to feel real. In order to make the world feel real, bad things have to happen."Your kids know that the world is a broken place. They have walked through the room and seen the news on. They've heard their parents argue. They've been to school. They know the world is a broken place. So what we need to do is tell a story that shows a broken world. That means that characters die, that there is war, there are real battles that happen, real things that happen—ultimately, not to disturb your children, but to comfort your children. That's the idea. When the light triumphs over a real darkness, then—this is my dream—the kid goes to sleep with this warm glow inside, that 'Yes, there is a great good in the world.'"I can't think of another animated series, a show that fits into this category, where there's going to be a long story where you don't know whether—where there's something real at stake, where characters just might die, because the Fangs are actually evil. We're going to be very careful. I have children, Chris [the producer] has children; we get it. We're not looking to just do violence for violence's sake, but the story is going to deal with some of those things."
Ultimately, not to disturb your children, but to comfort your children.
Andrew has spoken to this concern in his Note to Parents, also. One of his favorite quotes is, “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be beaten.”Just last week, Andrew's friend and fellow author N.D. "Nate" Wilson wrote an article in The Atlantic called "Why I Write Scary Stories for Children." Here's a snippet:
I write violent stories. I write dark stories. I write them for my own children, and I write them for yours. And when the topic comes up with a radio host or a mom or a teacher in a hallway, the explanation is simple. Every kid in every classroom, every kid in a bunk bed frantically reading by flashlight, every latchkey kid and every helicoptered kid, every single mortal child is growing into a life story in a world full of dangers and beauties. Every one will have struggles and ultimately, every one will face death and loss.There is absolutely a time and a place for The Pokey Little Puppy and Barnyard Dance, just like there’s a time and a place for footie pajamas. But as children grow, fear and danger and terror grow with them, courtesy of the world in which we live and the very real existence of shadows. The stories on which their imaginations feed should empower a courage and bravery stronger than whatever they are facing. And if what they are facing is truly and horribly awful (as is the case for too many kids), then fearless sacrificial friends walking their own fantastical (or realistic) dark roads to victory can be a very real inspiration and help.
This is a great article which Andrew really appreciated, and we hope you will too. Read the rest of it here.We'd love to hear your thoughts, too, whether you're a parent, a kid, or a writer or reader of any age. If you're interested in talking about this, feel free to post a comment below or visit our forum.
From Anita. Blue Sharpies and watercolors. This is a fascinating composition. I don't think I've seen Sharpies and watercolors mixed this way before. I love the dimensionality, too—the way the clouds roil and the snow swirls—and the threatening calm in the foremost's eyes.Dear readers, the drawings you send to Andrew are giving me a bit of an art education, I think. It's wonderful to see Aerwiar through your creativity.